Makes Reply to President of Polish Jews Federation
Benjamin Winter, President of the Federation of Polish Jews in America, made public a telegram yesterday from Jan Ciechanowski, Polish Minister to the United States, in which the minister made a categorical denial of charges appearing in the Jewish press that Poland is giving moral and financial aid to the Petlura supporters in the Schwartzbard murder trial now on in Paris to gain the friendship of Ukraine.
A telegram sent to the Polish Minister by Mr. Winter on behalf of the Federation requested, a statement on the charges of the “Jewish Morning Journal” that Poland, not because of anti-Semitism but as a means of gaining Ukraine’s friendship, was supporting the Petlura group in the famous trial.
The Polish Minister’s reply stated: “I beg to acknowledge your telegram received today informing me that a Paris cable published in the Jewish Morning Journal of October seventeenth alleges ‘that Poland is favoring the Petlura group and supporting it with its influence and its money. The Schwartzbard case becomes according to that newspaper a case of Ukraine and Poland versus the Russian Jews.’
“I note that you state in your telegram that this is substantiated by other Jewish newspaper sources. In reply to your inquiry as to the truth of this allegation, I have no hesitation in emphatically stating that the allegation is entirely unfounded and totally untrue.
“I understand that the Schwartzbard case is the trial of Schwartzbard for the murder of Petlura which took place in Paris. You will readily realize that there can be no question of any foreign influence being brought to bear on courts of justice of another country. In the light of the latter consideration, the allegations quoted by you as having been published by the Jewish Morning Journal, apart from being untrue should be viewed as fantastic.
“At the same time I should like to acknowledge with thanks the friendly sentiments respecting the Polish Government and sympathetic interest in the progress of Poland expressed by you on behalf of the Federation of Polish Jews in America.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
